Public Rivalry
by NarutoSkully
Summary: In the city of Katon, large companies compete to take over all the smaller businesses as they can. Naruto, is bored of his work as CEO of Nine and decides to help the lesser companies in need. That is until he meets his match, Sasuke Uchiha. NaruSasuNaru


A/N: I apologize ahead of time for some references that people who are not well-versed in American pop culture may not get. Just ask the closest knowledgeable person you know 8D

This is a fic I decided to write for my bb Since I kinda...copped out on Life is Beautiful...

Naruto's chapter 8D Sasuke'll be introduced in the next one. It's slow-going since I have to wait on about..10 people to critique my stuff pfft

So yeah 10 people later...hopefully it's good.

This is something that an idea died to give birth to. awww lil infant ideaaa -snugs it-

I really dunno what else to say pff

Uhh please tell me if there's anything weird wrong with it

Naruto, etc. (c) Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

**Public Rivalry – Prologue/Chapter 1**

Two young men stood in front of Chouji's Deli. The hand-lettered name sat atop a checkered awning in all of its garish red glory. The plate glass windows featured specials and menus in all sorts of mismatched promotions.

Not that this establishment was the only one that used a checkered awning nor was the deli well known anywhere outside of Katon, but in the midst of all of the pawn and record shops and bars on the block, it was as good as a trademark. The awning and the giant toothy-grinned llama that stood proudly by the store's name. He was all dressed to prepare your food with speed, skill, and a smile. In his hooves sat a cartoon-rendered gargantuan Reuben sandwich.

"So where's that guy?" Kiba murmured. Perhaps he was trying to not sound as annoyed as he had been acting, but his voice only came out as strained.

"We're early," Naruto replied.

"Which is surprising," A somber voice spoke up from behind the two. The startled men both jumped into action. Kiba hid behind the Apartment Guide dispenser while Naruto took to a fake martial arts stance. A smirk fixed itself upon the intruder's face from the emasculating squawks that the other two gave. It wasn't until they finally figured out who the stranger was that Kiba rose from behind his hiding place and Naruto relaxed his stance.

Aoba was dressed in a normal, almost typical, black and white suit. The goggles draped around his neck were the only visual deterring from his accomplished white-collar worker look. That and his punk, spiked hair. He shifted his weight to one leg, raising an eyebrow as he looked over the two men, "Well aren't you two professional?" he said.

"Hey! You can shove it, bud! I'm just a cab driver," Kiba spat, giving an accusing glare towards Naruto which the other noticed and scowled in return.

"You make way more than a _cab driver_, stupid," Naruto said and crossed his arms firmly over his chest.

"Not as much as Monsieur Shino sitting all high and mighty at the helm of your company at the moment," Kiba said.

"Yeah, but he actually has to do _work_, unlike you," Naruto replied.

"Like driving _your_ ass around all day at your whim is a vaca–" Kiba started.

"Ladies, please. As much as this is entertaining as well as mind-numbing, your 'dates' will be here in less than ten minutes," Aoba interrupted.

"_Right_," Naruto said. Then he turned to enter the deli they had been standing in front of for fifteen minutes. Things were usually never formal between him and the other two men he kept around him, he tried to keep it that way with everyone, but the board of directors had this thing about appearances. Though Naruto was sure they'd probably shit their geriatric diapers if they even caught word of what he was about to do here at Chouji's Deli let alone what he had been doing for nearly six months now.

Naruto Namikaze was young, handsome, and _lucky_, or unlucky, depending on the person's view. His father passed away nearly a year ago after a long battle with lung cancer, leaving his son with one of the largest inheritances a man of any age and caliber could ever hope for.

He missed his dad, of course, and he even appreciated his position as the virtual head of such a prestigious musical instrument making company like Nine. However, he was still young, only twenty-four, and he wasn't always keen on sitting in an office building. Which was why he was currently planning on standing in the middle of a quarrel between the underground gang of a company and a small deli, accompanied solely by a mysterious man he'd known only since he started this hobby and his best friend of seven years. Well…ex-best friend, he'd earn his title back when he stopped being such a baby.

What they were doing was a recent hobby Naruto had decided to pick up. In Katon, power was decided by how much you had. It was common for the larger companies in town to form dirty, secret gangs who went around and convinced the smaller businesses to submit. This was sometimes done by a peaceful conversation conducted by the larger business, but more often than not, this step was skipped.

This rubbed Naruto the wrong way so he decided to do something about it while also getting some excitement in his life. The current location they were at was owned by a friend of his and was being pressured by an unknown business. They seemed to be pretty desperate if they wanted a deli, that or they didn't play when they went for total control.

A bell jingled to the side as they entered the small building. Smells of classic sandwich meats, cheeses, and freshly baked bread filled their nostrils and somewhere was a knife hitting a cutting board. Suddenly Naruto felt a little hungry.

A voice spoke up from behind the large sneeze guards, greeting Naruto and his companions. Moments later a portly man with straw hair came around the bar, wringing his meat covered hands in an overused rag.

Naruto returned the greeting and gave the larger man a friendly hug. Meat and juices of other sorts were sure to be coated on his suit now, but he had more where that one came from.

"Thank you so much for coming," the butcher said. He tightened the hug and took it from friendly to life-threatening.

"Th–th–it's..no problem, Cho-Chouji–" Naruto forced out from his flattened lungs, extremities tensing at odd angles as he focused on keeping all of his ribs intact.

Kiba snickered at the strained look on his boss' face and Naruto gave the driver a glare, even though his face was turning blue.

Finally oxygen was restored as Naruto was released and he clutched at his chest, leaning on the nearest wall as he took choked gasps.

"S–sorry, but this has been really worrying me lately," Chouji said, wrapping and unwrapping his hands with his tattered rag.

Breathing, Naruto managed a reply, "It's cool. I'll find..a way to fix…this. It's what I..do," A strained smile tugged up his cheeks, "Because you're my buddy."

"Maybe I should be demoted in your social rankings if I'd get treated like this," Kiba snapped after crossing his arms loosely across his chest.

"_Any_ways," Naruto spoke up loudly, having caught Kiba's comment. "We don't have a lot of time so take us to the back."

"Oh yeah, Your men…made it here a few minutes before you did. I asked if they wanted anything but they said they weren't hungry," Chouji said, an innocent, confused look on his face. He didn't seem able to comprehend someone not being hungry.

"They probably only eat human," Kiba commented.

"Too fat-laced, they prefer steak. Though a flambéed athlete is occasionally welcomed," Aoba spoke up. Kiba jerking visibly from the sudden input and looked over his shoulder at the man who smiled congenially in return, though not meeting his gaze. It was rare that Aoba made a comment. He seemed to be the type to prefer to remain in the shadows, not saying much.

Overhearing and not sure if he was kidding or not, Naruto allowed Aoba to pass him. He cringed at the images of a famous athlete like Michael Jordon being turned over a fire, tied upon a crude rotisserie. Faces leered at the basketball player from the surrounding circle of hungry goons. Sometimes he really worried about where Aoba's mind seemed to dwell. The fact he was the dark and quiet type didn't help that fact.

They passed through the small kitchen and exited out the back onto a small expanse of asphalt that was used as the parking areas for the employees and the delivery trucks that came through. It was bordered on both sides by the backsides of the neighboring buildings and was littered lightly with beer bottles, both broken and whole. Half a dozen men or more were standing around, looking like the types you saw after a massive bar fight.

Their clothing was ripped and looked like it had seen more than a few years of wear. Tattoos of all sorts as well as scars of all shapes and sizes decorated whatever skin was exposed. Most of the men had long, greased hair pulled back in lazy ponytails or had their head completely shaved.

"These are Zabuza's guys, huh?" Naruto asked, looking over the various marred faces and the range of weapons that went from bludgeoning to sharp pointy death. "Sure hope they're loyal to their patrons," he mused, lifting his hand to inspect a particularly nasty pipe. The owner growled gutturally, making Naruto retreat and swallow.

"Don't worry. As long as you have Zabuza on your side, these guys are like Labrador puppies," Aoba replied with a smile. The kind of smile a butler gave you as he handed you your poisoned after-dinner wine.

Zabuza was a man that Aoba seemed to have pretty good connections with and could ask frequent favors from. Naruto was never very sure about who Aoba knew and why, but he trusted the man with his life. There had been more than one time that Aoba had proven he was worthy of that trust.

"Puppies don't normally carry weapons of assorted death," Kiba said with an analyzing air as he looked over the brutes closest to him.

"As long as they do their job," Naruto said with a wave of his hand before slipping them both into his pockets. He walked casually towards the middle and cleared his throat, giving the group a once-over with his eyes.

"You already know what's going down hopefully from what Aoba told you, but I'm going to give you guys a reminder," he spoke loudly, looking much like the general of a ragtag militia. Which wasn't too far from the truth.

"Only injure the ones that threaten your life. I don't want any unnecessary deaths here," he gave the small crowd an approving gaze then lifted his hand into the air, balling it into a fist, "Who's ready to kick some ass?"

The air remained stagnant. Kiba nearly doubled over in laughter.

Puffing out his cheeks, Naruto stomped one of his feet and yanked the nearest nail-covered bat from a man's hands. "I _said_ 'Who's ready to kick some ass?'" he brandished the wooden weapon with a skill that most of the people gathered around probably didn't expect from the well-dressed, young man.

The response this time was more uplifting, various grunts and cheers permeated the would-be background of the delicatessen.

"Aw'right!" Naruto called and started marching towards the road that ran around the back outside, having heard their guests arriving. This setting wasn't a usual for where they dealt with this type of business, but they didn't have as much time to plot this one out as they had others. However, as the BMWs of various model styles pulled over and the few men exited the cars, the battlefield wasn't much different from the norm of parking garages and wharfs surrounded in towers of cargo crates. The men filed around, all wearing similar outfits as well as sunglasses, giving them an underling appearance.

Naruto stepped forward, swaggering slightly as he dragged the pilfered bat along the ground. He watched as the men on the other side made room for their leader to get out of his car. Soft brown hair was the first distinguishing characteristic that set the 'leader' from his other men. The lack of sunglasses the second.

"What's all this?" the man said, gesturing to Naruto and all of his thugs. "Chouji, I thought we said this was gonna be a peaceful discussion." He raised an eyebrow at the larger man, flicking his cigarette to the ground before he stepped on it.

"Bullcrap, Tekka! You came to take over my business and I'm not handing it over to you. You can go back to your boss and tell him so," Chouji yelled from the back door of his building, red in the face.

Tekka clicked his tongue and slowly shook his head, "You think your friends here'll be able to do anything, fatass?"

Immediately a hush went over the groups of both sides.

"Shit," was all Naruto managed to hiss out before he and his two confidants ran to stop Chouji from bowling through the crowd on his way to seek vengeance. There was only one thing that set off a normally amicable man like Chouji. Naruto, Kiba, and Aoba together were barely enough to keep the larger man back.

"I'll show you fatass!" Chouji roared, nearly dragging the other three with him.

"Dammit, Chouji! You're gonna get yourself killed. Chill the hell out," Naruto grunted, wincing from where he'd been shouldered in the eye.

Brandishing a metal pipe he'd pulled from his car, Tekka looked over it before raising his sneering gaze to the four men. "You should listen to Jessica Simpson there. He's not as retarded as he looks."

Chouji switched places with Naruto as he had to help Kiba and Aoba hold the other man back, each gripping an arm while Chouji had a hold of his middle. Naruto flailed his legs at the sharply dressed men who were all still leering at them. "Oh yeah? I'll filet _your_ chicken of the sea, you old fuck! Shove it so far up your ass, you'll be shitting tuna for _weeks_!" Naruto shouted from his arrested position. "You bastards go beat his ass," he jerked his head to the side, gesturing for Zabuza's men to attack.

Everyone paused however, as Aoba started to walk towards Tekka. He kept his path directly between the fuming Naruto and Tekka and looked calm for a guy walking right into the middle of a hoard of men.

"Excuse me, sir," Aoba said. "But if you do not vacate this property with the intent of leaving Mr. Chouji's business alone for the remainder of its existence...we'll be forced to exterminate you and turn your boss into the authorities."

One side of Tekka's lips drew up, disfiguring his mouth as he stared at Aoba's artificial smile in disbelief. "Hah?" he drawled and looked to the suited men at his right. "Do you feel like leaving?"

"No, sir. Actually we feel kinda hungry," one of the grunts replied.

"Me too," Tekka said. He turned back towards Aoba, bending into a fighting stance.

Aoba jumped backwards and Naruto called on the attack again. This time bodies rushed forward, going on the offensive.

The small alley behind Chouji's Deli quickly turned into a battle-field. Bodies heaved and stumbled. Weapons cut through the air before landing heavily wherever they fell. Naruto tried repeatedly to get in on the action to exact his revenge, but was continuously pulled back to the sidelines. Only Aoba left their foursome to dive in, the man confident in his fighting skills and neither Naruto nor Kiba doubted him since they'd seen him work before.

"W-woah," Tekka breathed out from where he was pressed against his vehicle by Aoba, a pocket knife to his neck. He looked out with widened eyes as his men were being dragged over to be placed against a wall, secured for the authorities. Naruto had certain strings he could pull with a friend of his in the police.

"Yeah-heh-yeah," Naruto barked out proudly, standing alongside Aoba with his hands in his pockets and his chest thrust forward. Even roosters didn't strut with as much vigor as he was at the moment. "That's what happens when you waltz up in _my_ jurisdiction."

Leaning forward, Naruto grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled Tekka's head back. A small cry came from the man's mouth. "So, which one of those companies do you work for?"

Tekka laughed loudly and jerked his head, trying to pull away from Naruto's grip, "You act like I'll try to hide who it is. We're damn proud of our boss and it's not like you'll be able to do a damn thing anyway with this tiny amount of people."

"Then spit it out, tough guy," Naruto said, tightening his grip.

"Uchiha Corporation. They make weapons and shit for the army and stuff. Like you'd be able to tango with that," Tekka's strained grin grew. "I happen to be family so killing me would be a dumb move."

A loud scoff left Naruto's mouth and he threw Tekka's head down, stepping back before telling Aoba to release him, "I don't kill people, _dumbass_," Naruto said and replaced his hands in his pockets. He watched the man writhing on the ground, trying to catch his footing. "But thanks for the info."

Tekka pulled himself and glared upwards at the blond man. "So what do you _do_?"

"I hand them over to my friend Tenten," Naruto replied, charming grin spreading over his lips as a hoard of cop cars pulled up behind him. Tekka dropped his head.

-------

"Where to after this, _sir_?" Kiba asked after swallowing a mouthful of food. One of Chouji's ham and turkey subs sat on the plate in front of him. After the cops had cleaned up the men from Uchiha's, Naruto called the company to inform them anonymously about the package they'd have to pick up from the precinct. He also politely informed them to not try anything like that again. The person on the other end seemed genuinely confused, and Naruto was sure that she'd just been too far out of the inner workings to know anything.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, but he didn't reply until he had completely chewed up what food was in his mouth. "Would you shove it?" he spat before taking another bite.

"I'm not sure where that is, sir," Kiba quipped almost instantly. His expression was lax, lids relaxed over his casual gaze.

A growl rumbled up Naruto's throat and he jabbed the fork a little harder than he meant to in the piece of roast beef that had escaped from his sandwich. "Just take me back to the office, jackass. We're going to visit the Uchiha's building tomorrow and I have some things to attend to before then," he said through gritted teeth before opening his mouth to shove the last of his food inside.

Kiba made a small noise in reply, but didn't say anything. The edge of his lips twitched, possibly pleased with the reaction he'd gotten from his boss.

Naruto relaxed back in his seat. His eyes moved to glower out the window at the buildings across the street and passersby. His arms lifted to cross firmly across his chest as he fumed, looking more like a child who'd gotten chastised than the CEO of a multi-million dollar company.

Unfortunately Naruto had made the mistake of promoting Shino Aburame to Vice-President rather than Kiba Inuzuka. Though, in Naruto's defense, the board was much more impressed with Shino and they had a way of pressuring the young man into doing what they wanted sometimes, especially when Naruto himself didn't care either way. Kiba seemed to enjoy his job as Naruto's driver. They went on adventures to save innocent companies from bad guy gangs of other companies and all Shino was going to do was sit and play company head while Naruto was away. This was reason enough for Naruto not to go out of his way to defend his friend when Kiba's application was denied.

A sigh sifted through Naruto's lips. His eyes turned to Kiba and a smile smile lifted his lips slowly. "Hey," he spoke up, nodding his head at the other.

Kiba turned his unimpressed gaze to his boss, "What is it, sir?"

"I could always propose to the board that I need another secretary. One that I'd need with me at all times," he offered, face brightening. "You'd be like my traveling number two."

The driver's face brightened as well and he straightened in his sleep with a small whoop, "You got yourself a deal, my man." He stuck out his fist which Naruto met.

"I'll look forward to seeing my number two ready for action tomorrow. Sounds like Uchiha's guys don't play..or something. Honestly these guys always spout the same shit. It gets really cliché," the smile on his lips faltered. "It's pretty lame."

Kiba snickered and finished off his drink before standing, "We need to get going before Sakura laces your office with explosives. She's so uptight."Kiba always seemed to be on top of keeping Naruto aware of his deadlines. It's part of the reason they had bonded so fondly in high school, Naruto would have not passed half the classes he did if it wasn't for his best friend.

Standing as well, Naruto straightened his jacket, flipping up his collar and running his fingers down the lapels. "She just needs someone like me to loosen her up," he said, confident grin spread across his face.

Slowly shaking his head, Kiba snorted as he led the way to the car.

-------

Sun gleamed unimpressively from big windows that lined the entirety of the office walls, reflected off the neighboring buildings since this particular side of the building shunned the sunlight during the afternoon. Weakened shadows floated over a cherry wood desk as Naruto rolled his chair up, inclining forward slightly as he pressed his intercom button.

"Sakura," his tone was sweet, almost sickeningly so, as he greeted his secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Namikaze?"

Naruto sighed heavily, "I thought I told you not to call me by that name. Mr. Namikaze is what everyone calls my _dad_. 'Naruto' is all you need."

"Sorry, Mr. …_Naruto_."

A small smile pulled up his lips, "I guess that'll have to do." He leaned more comfortably on one arm, making himself more alluring though there was no one in person to impress, "Would you be a sweetie and take all calls for me? I'm going out for a while."

"Going out? Are you st– You're expecting a call from Mr–" Her voice had risen several decibels and the intercom was struggling to get it all through.

"Calm down!" he said with a loud laugh, "I'll be back in time to talk to that old goof. Don't worry so much, Sakura, it's bad for your health. I didn't hire you as my secretary to lose you to a heart attack. We haven't even had our first date yet."

"Nor will we ever. I don't know how you expect me to be impressed by a boss that plays hooky at least once a month at god-knows-where." Pursed salmon pink lips and narrowed sea green eyes came to mind and Naruto chuckled to himself. "I'd like to know what's so funny about skipping out on doing your job, Mr. Naruto."

Naruto let out a long-suffered sigh before leaning back in his chair, "Just don't worry about it. I've got things under control. So much control that I even know what's going on when I'm not here."

All he got in reply was a sigh, before the intercom clicked.

A low, pleased hum rolled through Naruto's throat as he leaned back further in his chair, taking his eyes off the desk that was cluttered with weekly paperwork that hadn't even been touched today. Turning his chair, he faced the large windows that looked out over Katon before standing. Skyscrapers similar to the one he was in, stabbed at the sky, smaller buildings, hotels and businesses of the less successful sort, laid out a proper floor pattern.

Squinting at his reflection, he skimmed his fingers beneath the crisply ironed lapels on his coal-black blazer, straightening the material down to the hem. He ran a palm through his golden, disheveled hair to intensify his "rugged but professional" look and flicked up the collar of his pumpkin orange button up shirt. No tie today.

Giving the Naruto in the window a grin and a friendly point, the real one turned back to head out his office door, fishing out his cellphone. He hit the call button and scrolled down two numbers to Kiba's. The doors closed behind him as he left the room and Sakura gave him a scowl that she covered up with a polite wave. Neither he noticed, being too intent on the upcoming conversation from the phone he was pulling to his ear. He took long, confident strides towards the elevator and pressed the down button. The dial tone in his ear silenced and a voice took its place.

"Yeah, man?"

The elevator chimed as the doors opened and Naruto stepped inside.

"Kiba, are you ready yet?" he asked, pressing the button for the ground floor. "I know how your mom likes to talk your ear off while you're trying to get dressed for work."

A small scoff sounded from the other end, "I guess so."

"Alright, have the car out front. I'll be down in a jiffy," Naruto replied, bouncing on his heels.

"Yeah, buddy."

He clipped his phone shut and leaned against the cool metal, watching the numbers go by with each small chime. His foot tapped on the floor in a quick beat.

Eventually the doors slid open, dings clamoring while Naruto stepped briskly from the elevator into the airy front lobby of the building. Conversation filled the atmosphere with the mix of a phonetic and human climate, intensified by the high-vaulting ceiling that sat up three stories high.

"Afternoon, Mr. Namikaze," a timid, female voice greeted him from behind the tall front desk.

Naruto turned to regard the petite Asian girl who had walked up to him, "Please, Hinata, call me Mr. Naruto." He patted her on the shoulder.

Hinata's cheeks flushed darkly before she gave him a traditional bow, "Y-yes sir, Mr. Naruto."

He paused by a sculptural representation of the company's logo and shook another couple of gentlemen's hands when they offered them before they kept going. A group of lower ranked employees were gathered at the other side. One waved him over.

He beamed and tossed a hand up in return, closing the short distance between them quickly, "Morning!"

A woman in a sleek business suit bit at her lip, "It's one in the afternoon."

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto tugged up a sleeve and glanced at his Rolex. "So it is," he proclaimed, before looking back up and shifting his hands to his pockets, "Hope you had a good lunch."

This started up a long conversation about a bistro that had recently opened down the street and led to personal preferences each worker had in soups and sandwiches. Naruto had no problem starting a long winded discussion of the simplest things. He also had a problem of getting distracted from what he was supposed to be doing.

"Uh…Mr. Namikaze, _sir_?" a young man spoke up, gesturing towards one of the gigantic lobby windows behind Naruto.

Naruto turned to look over his shoulder, eyes skimming over the hood of the porte-cochere until a deformed face squished against the glass caught his eye, the owner leaned against it to catch sight of his missing client. The man was dressed nicely in a uniform, brown hair that was comparable to Naruto's own hair's state of disarray protruded from his hat which was sitting atop of a heavy scowl.

"Guess my ride's ready," Naruto said with a nervous laugh, not sure whether to laugh at the driver's appearance or feel sorry for making him wait. He waved in salutation to his temporary company and walked outside, past the glass and metal doors that the doorman opened for him. Outside air met his nose and he stretched as he took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders. The sunshine and refreshing freedom of being out of the building put an extra lift in his amazing day as always.

"Did you have fun chatting it up, Mr. Ditz?" Kiba grumbled, taking the other man's arm and pulling him towards the limousine.

"Hey," Naruto said, yanking his arm away from the driver. "Just because I was a little late doesn't mean you can drag me wherever you want. This is my setup after all," he straightened and tugged at his lapels, "I can be late if I feel like it."

"You're the one that'll complain if you miss the action," Kiba said, opening the door for his friend. "It's happened before."

Scoffing halfheartedly, Naruto got into the back. The door clicked shut behind him and he settled himself in his seat, watching the driver as he walked around the car before another door was opened.

"Where to, _sir_?" Kiba asked, giving Naruto a look as he got settled into his own seat and shut the door.

Naruto rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, "You remember yesterday, right?" He gazed at the driver and raised a brow.

It was Kiba's turn to roll his eyes as he turned back around in his seat and shifted the limo into gear, "Right, right. The Uchiha building." He took a glance into the back through his rear-view mirror and caught Naruto's gaze. "This should be fun," he said with a smile.


End file.
